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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffSeptic arthritis may develop when an infection elsewhere in your body, such as an upper respiratory tract infection or urinary tract infection, spreads through your bloodstream to a joint. Less commonly, a puncture wound, drug injection or surgery near a joint may allow bacteria into the joint space.
The lining of your joints (synovium) has little to protect itself from infection. Once bacteria reach the synovium, they enter easily and can begin destroying cartilage. Your body's reaction to the bacteria — including inflammation around the joint, increased pressure in your joint and reduced blood flow to the joint — contributes to the damage of your joint.
Types of bacteria
A number of strains of bacteria can cause septic arthritis. The most common type involved in septic arthritis is Staphylococcus aureus (staph) — a type of bacteria commonly found on your skin and in your nose.
In the past, septic arthritis was more frequently caused by the bacterium that causes the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea. But use of safer sex practices has led to a decline in gonorrhea and its complications, including septic arthritis. Still, in younger sexually active people, gonorrhea is a potential cause of septic arthritis.
Other infectious causes of arthritis
Bacteria are just one cause of joint infections. Viruses also can attack joints (viral arthritis), though this condition usually resolves on its own and causes little joint damage. In rare cases, joint infections can be caused by a fungus (fungal arthritis). Another infectious type of arthritis is reactive arthritis, which causes joint pain in response to an infection in another part of the body, though the joint itself isn't infected.
- George HO, et al. Bacterial arthritis. In: Firestein GS, et al. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: W.B. Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/202388075-9/0/1807/746.html?tocnode=55734150&fromURL=746.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-3285-4..10099-3_3613. Accessed May 30, 2010.
- Garcia-De LaTorre I, et al. Gonococcal and nongonococcal arthritis. Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America. 2009;35:63.
- Zinc BJ, et al. Bone and joint infections. In: Marx JA, et al., eds. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. St. Louis, Mo.:Mosby;2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05472-0..00134-1--s0180&uniq=202388075&isbn=978-0-323-05472-0&sid=1002434146#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05472-0..00134-1--s0110%3Bfrom%3Dtoc%3Btype%3DbookPage%3Bisbn%3D978-0-323-05472-0. Accessed May 30, 2010.
- Ohl CA. Infectious arthritis of native joints. In: Mandell GL, et al. Mandell, Bennett, & Dolin: Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2005. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..00102-8&displayedEid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..00102-8--s0015&uniq=202388075&isbn=978-0-443-06839-3&sid=1002438834. Accessed May 30, 2010.
- Goldenberg DL. Septic arthritis in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 30, 2010.
- Krogstad P. Bacterial arthritis: Clinical features and diagnosis in infants and children. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 30, 2010.
- Steckelberg JM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. June 3, 2010.
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